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Episode 4
Episode 4 "I'll Do My Best As Commander!" "Taichō, Ganbarimasu!" (隊長、がんばります！) is the fourth episode of Girls und Panzer, and first aired on October 30, 2012. Plot The battle has begun, and we realize that Total Annihilation rules apply. This means that all of a team’s tanks must be eliminated before victory can be declared. After surveying their opponent, Team A deploys, and prepares to fire. The first shot doesn’t phase St. Gloriana, however, they acquire the enemy position and give chase. Team A lures them into the other waiting Ooarai teams' ambush, but St. Gloriana expected this; the opposing tanks form a pincer maneuver. Team D panic under fire and abandon their tank, declaring tank defeat under the rules, whilst the student council team get their tracks blown off by a near miss. With only Teams B and C to provide support, Team A commandeers a retaliatory attack. They retreat through the town, use the buildings as cover and pull off a successful ambush on one of the enemy tanks. However, Teams C and B are quickly defeated, leaving Team A to fend for themselves. When Team A is cornered, the student council team arrives (after repairing their loose tread) to intercept; however, Momo misses all four tanks at point blank range and St. Gloriana makes short work of the Panzer 38(t). This gives Team A time to retreat from back to an alley and take down one of St. Gloriana tank before doing so, Darjeeling commands a pursuit afterwards. Team A uses the blind corners to ambush the St. Gloriana's Matilda Mk.IIs taking another two tanks, but when they fire at the Churchill it takes minimal damage due to the heavy frontal armour. Miho orders the Panzer IV to turn around, drift and confront the Churchill. The two exchange fire and the Panzer IV waves the white flag after a smoke screen from the explosions. Thus, Ooarai Academy loses the exhibition match. Because of this, the girls must perform the Angler Fish dance outlined as punishment from episode three. After finishing the punishment, the girls of Team A decide to tour the city; they meet one of the male residents, and Takebe catches his eyes. Hana recognizes the man as Shinzaburou; when Shinzaburou meets the girls, he passes Sakebe ignoring her completely much to her surprise and speaks with Hana. He happens to be driving a rickshaw, and Hana's mother is the passenger. When she discovers that her daughter drove a tank, Hana's mother is upset; Hana grew up practicing Ikebana, the art of flower arrangement, and she didn’t want her to participate in Sensha-dō. Yuri faints as a result, and the group convenes at the Isuzu household. Shinzaburou states that Hana should confront her mother about how she truly feels; she does so, and her mother states her low opinion of tank warfare. However, Hana remains dedicated to Sensha-dō; her mother tells her never to enter the house again. Team A returns to the carrier, barely making it for departure time. St. Gloriana students happened to send a tea set as a gift; we see the commander, Darjeeling, noting that Miho is better than her sister Maho. It is revealed that Ooarai will participate in this year's National Sensha-dō Tournament. We see the selection process in the next scene; they have Saunders Girls High School, a favorite contender for the championship, as their first opponent. The student council affirm to themselves that they cannot afford to lose. Note that the Saunders team uses M4 Sherman variants; the episode ends with a shot of the overwhelming Saunders tank strength. Characters introduced * Rukuriri (Seen on screen, not named) * Nilgiri (Seen on screen, not named) * Yuri Isuzu * Shinzaburo * Erika Itsumi (Seen on screen, not named) * Alisa (Seen on screen, not named) * Hisako Reizei (Referenced by Mako Reizei, not named) Tanks appearing * Infantry Tank Mk.II Matilda II Mk.III/IV * Infantry Tank Mk.IV Churchill Mk.VII * Cruiser Tank Mk.VI Crusader Mk.II (Seen. Not employed in action; in the Audio Drama, Darjeeling mentions that Rosehip, the commander of the Crusader platoon, wasn't allowed to participate in the battle because she lacked the gracefulness of a St. Gloriana student.) Main events *The match between Ooarai and St. Gloriana ends with the narrow victory of the latter. *Hana is formally expelled from her home by her mother. *The National Tournament begins, and Ooarai is drawn against Saunders for the first match. Trivia * The ending credits feature Team B (Duck Team) in the Type 89B. * Saori mentions that Mako is awake at night, although this is proves to become offset by her early mornings. * St. Gloriana is the only team to face Ooarai with an equal number of tanks. * This is the only elimination match in the anime series (fought under annihilation rules). * As the Ooarai girls do not receive their Sensha-dō uniforms until Episode 5, they fight the battle in their regular school uniforms. * Boko makes an appearance on one of the warning signs at the roadworks. * This episode features the only ever instance of Darjeeling spilling her tea. ** In the events of Girls und Panzer der Film, she is seen using a blue teacup, as the white one seen in this episode was broken when she dropped it. * It is implied that Team A gained their subsequent designation, Anglerfish Team, the anglerfish logo and dance, although the latter is not very appreciated, from the events of this episode. * In OVA 6, it is stated that the Anglerfish Dance is Team A's "forte". * In the spin off manga, Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, it is revealed that none of the Ooarai girls are very good at using the tea set given to them by Darjeeling. * The manouver with which Team A tried to hit the Churchill's rear armour is the basic form of a strafe that Miho will eventually use against The Tiger I in the grand final, in both she ends up losing her treads; on the other hand, in the movie Girls und Panzer der Film the Bermuda Trio from Selection University execute similar maneuvers multiple times and don't lost their treads. Anglerfish Team attempts the same action against Alice Shimada, however, the Alice's Centurion Mk.I rotates in the opposite direction to the drift and hence denies the Panzer IV a shot at its rear armour. * Whilst in pursuit of the Panzer IV, the lead Matilda Mk.II loses control on a hard corner and crashes into a shop. This shop makes an appearance in Girls und Panzer der Film under identical circumstances. The shop is in fact real, showing the same design, even having real life size posters from the characters on the front door, as seen in news pictures. * A retail outlet in Ooarai's Shopping District is named "Market Garden" in reference the 1944 British operation to invade Germany by passing through Holland. * Miho draws the slot number 8 for Ooarai's starting tournament branch. Gallery Churchil an matildas.png|St. Gloriana's tanks Churchill.png Panzer38Overkill.png Final Duel.png Yuri isuzu.jpg Crusader.png M4 rolling forward.jpg Category:Episodes